This list gives you Bible verses about brokenness, grouped by the kinds of moments that leave people feeling cracked open: grief, shame, failure, and exhaustion. It is written for anyone who has ever wondered whether God still wants them when they feel shattered.
What these verses share is a consistent picture of God drawing near to the hurting. Scripture does not ask broken people to fix themselves first. It shows God working with what is broken, and often through it.
Verses for the Heart That Is Grieving
Grief can feel like a loss of solid ground. The verses in this section speak to sorrow that has no quick answer and to a God who stays close while you mourn.
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
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When you are heartbroken, this verse tells you the Lord is not distant from your pain. Try saying it aloud in the car before you walk into a difficult day, letting it be the first honest thing you tell God.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
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This verse pictures God as a physician tending wounds that others may not see. On a night when sleep won’t come, you can name one specific hurt to him and ask him to begin the work of binding it up.
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
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Jesus treats mourning as a place of blessing, not a sign of failure. Give yourself permission to grieve this week without hurrying yourself toward feeling better, and let comfort come in its own time.
Verses for When You Feel Ashamed or Unworthy
Brokenness often carries shame, the quiet belief that you have ruined too much to be loved. These verses answer that belief with God’s steady acceptance.
Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
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David wrote this after his worst failure, and God received his broken spirit rather than rejecting it. Before you pray about something you regret, name it plainly, trusting that honesty is where God starts.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
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Paul makes clear that those who belong to Christ are not under condemnation. When shame whispers that you are finished, answer it by naming who you belong to, and say that sentence out loud once a day.
Isaiah 43:1
But now the LORD who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
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God calls his people by name in this verse, a sign of personal belonging rather than general tolerance. Write your own name beside this verse and read it as a statement God is making about you.
Isaiah 61:1
The Lord the LORD’s Spirit is on me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound…
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This passage describes good news to the poor and healing for the brokenhearted. Notice that the work is announced as God’s to do, so you can bring him the specific wounds you are tempted to hide.
Verses for Days When You Feel Worn Down
Some brokenness is slow: a long illness, a strained marriage, years of pressure with no break. These verses speak to strength that runs out and a God who does not.
2 Corinthians 12:9
He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
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Paul learned that God’s grace was enough even when his weakness remained. When you feel you have nothing left, try praying about the one task you can manage today rather than the whole load.
Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
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The psalmist admits his heart and flesh are failing, yet God remains his strength. Write this verse on a card you keep in your bag and read it when your energy dips at work or at home.
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
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Jesus invites the weary and burdened to come to him for rest. Set a short fifteen-minute window today to sit quietly and bring him what you are carrying, without needing to explain it well.
Lamentations 3:22-23
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
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Jeremiah wrote these words from the ruins of Jerusalem, and they still speak of mercies that begin again each morning. Read them when you wake up, and let the new day be a small reason to hope.
Psalm 56:8
You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren’t they in your book?
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The psalmist believed God kept track of his tears, which is a deeply personal image of care. Keep a simple notebook for honest prayers, and let your written tears be something God already sees.
Verses for Restoring What Feels Broken
Brokenness is not the last word in Scripture. These verses point toward God’s habit of making new what has been damaged, slowly and truthfully.
Psalm 147:3-4
3 He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. 4 He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by their names.
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These verses move from healing wounds to naming the stars, showing that the God who heals is also the God who sustains the cosmos. When a situation feels too small to matter, let this widen your view of who is working on it.
Revelation 21:5
He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
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The one seated on the throne declares that he is making all things new. Consider one area of your life that feels beyond repair and pray that God would begin renewal there, even in small ways.
Joel 2:25
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
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God promises to restore the years that the locusts have eaten, a picture of loss turned toward recovery. Name one season you wish you could get back and ask God to redeem what he can from it.
How to Use These Verses
Write the verses that speak to you most on index cards or in the notes app on your phone, and keep them where you will see them: the bathroom mirror, the dashboard, the first page of your journal. Repetition helps Scripture settle into the places where brokenness hurts most.
Read one verse slowly in the morning, then return to it in the evening and ask what it meant in the day you just lived. You can also pray a verse back to God, turning its promise into a request, such as “Lord, be near to me in this grief.”
A Short Prayer for Brokenness
Lord, you see the cracks that I try to hide from others and sometimes from myself. I bring you the grief I have not finished crying over, the shame I carry, and the tiredness that makes ordinary days feel heavy. Draw near to me as you promised, and bind up what hurts. Where I have failed, receive my honest sorrow, and remind me that I belong to you. Give me strength for this day, and make something new in the places that feel beyond repair. Amen.
